Finding my way with words…

Monthly Archives: June 2012

Good Morning Peoples, especially those who love their felines! Monhegan Mist here, aka Miss Misty. This is the morning after…and I am a bit weary! Yesterday was my birthday. Mom had a Sweet 16 birthday dinner for me. Before you start picturing wild cats running around and bouncing off the walls, I was only 16 in human years… in cat years I was 84! The advantage I have over Mom is, I was born with grey hair so I can do a better job of hiding my age! Mom promised me I could be a guest blogger for my birthday, so here it goes…

I had a rather unusual beginning in my family. My Mom had gone back to graduate school and was very busy. She had a golden retriever named Maggie who was well taken care of by Mom’s friend, but was lonely. Mom was thinking maybe a kitty would fit the bill. Problem, Mom hated cats. One Saturday Mom went to the pet store to get Maggie some food. I was there with a group of cat rescuers who were trying to find forever homes for kitties. Long story short, Mom saw me with my grey velvet fur and took me home.

When we got home we had a long talk. She introduced me to Maggie and told me she realized God made me a cat, not a dog, and while she respected that she had always found cats a bit aloof and independent. She said if I could be like a small grey golden retriever who used a litter box that life would be perfect! I really wanted things to work out at my new “forever” home, but that was a lot to ask! Mom sealed the deal by naming me after her favorite place on earth ~ Monhegan Island, Maine. She said my fur was the color of the mist in the harbor in the early morning. Add to that, I am a perfect lady who always lays with my legs gracefully crossed!

I took our little talk to heart. Fact is, I wasn’t ready to be separated from my feline mother when I was and needed something with 4 legs to be my Mom. That wound up being Maggie. When your foster mother is a golden retriever it is almost impossible to be independent and aloof. So, Mom got her wish and within 24 hours she loved me unconditionally and decided kitties were an individual decision and that she had been wrong to write off an entire breed. I am a great cuddler!

Some of Mom’s other “quirks” I have an issue with. She loves to dress up her animals for holiday pictures. That behavior moves into territory I cannot abide! I call it animal abuse! I have to draw the line somewhere!! I have beautiful green eyes that in pictures always look like some wild beast that belongs in a scarey movie. She just doesn’t get it! I HATE to have my picture taken! I’m so much cuter in person.

One of my greatest challenges was when Mom brought home a golden retriever puppy two years after Maggie died. Maggie was older when I came to live with her, I was not prepared for the challenges of a puppy. Her name is Gracie. I did a good job raising Gracie! I was the mother this time! People think we should be enemies because we are different species ~ why? We aren’t enemies, we are sisters. I wag my tail like a dog, and I taught Gracie to be the only dog who can cup her paws to scoop like a cat! She is able to gather all of the edible treasures from the kitchen sink that Mom forgets to immediately send down the garbage disposal thanks to me! And…did I mention that I do an awesome job of keeping my canine siblings clean and well groomed?

I’m sorry to interrupt Father’s Day to send my belated birthday message, but Mom was chasing me all day yesterday trying to get a Sweet 16 picture of me (the one at the top of the page). By then, we were both too tired to write!

I am a very important member of the family. I have been with Mom through a lot of life over 16 human years. You too can have a special kitty in your life. We can be independent or cuddly, your choice. We can be entertaining. We are playful. We can keep the dog clean. We can be your faithful companion. We are low maintenance.

I would be remiss if I did not remind you that this is “Kitten Season.” There are many kitties that do not have a forever home ~ young and old. Please consider bringing a furry new friend into your home by adopting a rescue. We are really special balls of fur… That’s my Sweet 16 message for you…

I don’t know about you, but following a rather mild winter it seems to be an especially miserable season for those who suffer from seasonal pollen allergies. That being said, it is a banner year for those who sell allergy medications and tissues. Those of us who suffer are buying more and more over the counter medications, feeling buried in mountains of soggy mucus laden tissues, are feeling wretched and at the mercy of Mother Nature through a foggy brain that we are sure has an ax buried in it! Amongst the blooms of the season the quality of life is diminished. I keep getting a mental picture of my friend above reciting Katharine Hepburn’s famous line, “the calla lilly’s are in bloom” in a very nasally voice and with red, swollen teary eyes.

All of that being said, my fair readers, I am angry! No, not at Mother Nature, I’ve learned in my 62 years that it is self defeating to get angry with Mother Nature (she always wins). I am

Bettman

angry with those who manufacture tissues. What were they thinking? They have chosen the time of year in which they must be making more money on tissues than any other, with the possible exception of winter cold season, to change the design of their tissue boxes. On a scale from aesthetically beautiful (10) to downright ugly (1) the latest offerings are a minus 10!

Judging by the picture at left, even Abe Lincoln had to resort to a neti pot during allergy season! They must have had a bad season of tissue box designs even in his day.

If you read my mother’s day post, you know that I was raised by a mother who would not allow even a ketchup bottle on the dinner table. While from that standpoint I was a major disappointment in that department, I am finicky about my tissue boxes. They need to be of coordinating colors to my decor, and have an artistically pleasing design.

While in one of the big box stores today I surveyed five different brands of tissues. Puffs advertises the new designs with “The same great tissues you love… with a prettier wardrobe.” I was left wondering where they are buying their clothes!! I found that tissues come in many varieties: basic, with lotion, ultra soft, cool touch, with Vicks, auto pack, and anti-viral. Some brands only came in basic, some had “purse-pack” gifts included. What they all had in common was that they have new UGLY designs on their boxes.

So, for someone who is visually distracted by an un-visually pleasing box of tissues in a room, what is one to do? Tissue box covers, and there are many types to choose from. I found basic stainless steel, bunnies, strawberry shortcake, Hello Kitty and King Tut’s mask with tissues popping out of his nose.

One company offers to print your own photographs on each side of a tissue box cover. I was thinking maybe you could pick your favorite painting to have on your tissue box. How would it look to have tissues coming out of Mona Lisa’s nose or mouth?

I should probably be grateful that I’m having a bad allergy season. When the eyes get red and puffy and tearing, and the ear canals get itchy, and the head hurts because the sinuses are swollen, and I am sneezing repeatedly I reach for my allergy pills and nasal spray. At that point I either take a nap or get myself wound up over something as important as the new designs on the boxes my tissues come in. The real issues of the world get lost in the fog that has taken over my brain.

One important warning, if you feel a sneeze coming on while driving… pull over!

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